Self-drive car on hold

JAPANESE automaker Toyota said yesterday it was suspending tests of its self-driving cars so staff could “emotionally process” after an autonomous Uber car killed a pedestrian in an accident.

Ride-sharing giant Uber has already suspended use of self-driving cars after one of its vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian on Sunday in the US state of Arizona.

“We cannot speculate on the cause of the incident or what it may mean to the automated driving industry going forward,” Toyota said in a statement.

All testing of autonomous cars on public roads, which was previously being conducted in Japan and in California and Michigan, is on hold.